Crete withdraws from detention center consideration

Crete’s village board on Monday voted to withdraw the south suburb from consideration for a federal immigration detention center, said Village President Mike Einhorn.

The unanimous decision of the six-member board of trustees followed months of organized opposition among residents to the proposed detention center.

“There hasn’t been community support for a while,” said village Trustee Daniel Bachert.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement selected Crete as a potential site for the detention center last year, Einhorn said.

In December, residents began organizing against the proposal, arguing that a detention center within village limits would depress local property values and pose a potential security threat, said Laurene Lambertino-Urquizo, one of the organizers of the opposition movement in Crete.

A petition against the detention center had garnered more than 1,500 signatures, Lambertino-Urquizo said.

“Up into the very end I think everybody including myself was on the fence about this one,” Einhorn said.